82-year-old veteran loses home in blaze

Published 11:48 am, Saturday, February 5, 2011

An 82-year-old war veteran lost his mobile home Saturday afternoon when a space heater ignited, completely destroying the trailer.

The Midland Fire Department is unsure of exactly when the blaze started, as the homeowner, Bobby Gann, was away when the fire began.

MFD responded to the fire at Highway 80 and County Road 1136 at about 1:30 p.m., and were able to successfully extinguish the fire without any further damage to the surrounding area besides an adjacent shed, MFD Central Captain Karl Staggs said.

“It is such a tragedy, he was a war veteran and lost everything,” said Kat Smith, a volunteer with the Red Cross. “He even lost his war medals.”

The Red Cross is providing assistance, and had already met with Gann to begin providing needs early Saturday afternoon.